Six in ten parents say they would let their children lie about their age online to access social media sites 

  • New findings show 60 per cent of parents would allow their children to lie about their age to get around age restrictions on social media sites
  • A survey by Aviva interviewed 1,000 parents who have children aged 10 to 15
  • It also found a third of parents allow their children to use the internet without parental controls 

The majority of parents would let children lie about their age to use social media websites aimed at adults, a new survey reveals.

A poll of more than 1,000 parents with children aged 10 to 15 found 60 per cent would allow them to pretend they are older to get around age restrictions.

Their lax attitude means young children are potentially able to befriend and chat with adult strangers, share photographs of themselves and access inappropriate material online.

Survey, by Aviva, finds 60 per cent of parents would let their children lie about their age to get around age restrictions on social media sites. Picture posed

Survey, by Aviva, finds 60 per cent of parents would let their children lie about their age to get around age restrictions on social media sites. Picture posed

The minimum age for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites is 13 – but children can bypass this by lying when they sign up.

The revelation that many are doing so with the full knowledge of their parents will stoke calls for families to take more responsibility for their children’s online activity.

The survey, by insurer Aviva, also found a third of UK parents with children aged 10 to 15 allowed their children to use the internet without any parental controls.

The survey of 1,000 parents also found one third let their children use the internet without parental controls. Picture posed

The survey of 1,000 parents also found one third let th

Only eight per cent of respondents said they actually supervised their children while online.

Two thirds of parents with children in this ‘tweens’ group said their children used social media, equating to 2.8 million users.

The researchers also interviewed 900 children aged 10 to 15 and found of those who used social media, more than a quarter said they had been upset because of comments made online.

The same proportion had felt excluded because they were not invited to events or gatherings that they had seen online.

More worrying still, around 12 per cent of these youngsters had experienced cyber-bullying, 10 per cent said they had been ‘trolled’ and 3 per cent said they had been ‘groomed’ online.

When asked about a number of threats posed to their children, either by the internet or through video games, the vast majority of parents had some misgivings.

Cyber-bullying was the biggest cause for concern, with 70 per cent of parents feeling troubled by the prospect.

Around two thirds worry about their children using the internet generally, while more than half of parents questioned were concerned about their children becoming addicted to video games.

However, when the children were asked themselves, in most cases fewer than a third were concerned by the various risks.

Lindsey Rix of Aviva said: ‘Technology is now very much a part of our lives from a very early age. The ways in which we communicate, work and entertain ourselves are all changing as a result.

‘While most of the families we spoke to in our study said that technology had had a positive impact on their households, there are also some downsides and concerns, as this particular piece of research shows.

‘There are a wealth of ways in which parents can help their children to stay safe online, from putting parental controls in place on their devices or simply supervising them and teaching them about the risks associated with the internet.

‘Technology offers a world of opportunities, but it pays to play safe.’